With the tens of millions of dollars earned annually by C.C. Sabathia, Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez, among others, the Bronx's average wage was $47,000 in 2013. In comparison, the next-highest average wage was the $46,000 of Queens, where the New York Mets play.

Manhattan's average wage was tops in the city, at $102,000.

"It's not just the Yankees that bring up the average, although they do make a difference," said Federal Reserve Bank of New York President Bill Dudley, during a speech last week in the Bronx that was quoted by Crain's.

But the Bronx's average wage would drop by $1,000, and into a tie with Queens, if the Yankees left the borough and took their huge payroll with them.

The Crain's story noted the New York state Labor Department data show "spectator sports" accounted for $281 million of wages in the Bronx in 2013. The story assumed that nearly all of that money came from the Yankees, a fair assumption given they are the only major league sports team located in the borough.